Electricity-meter.



0. WHITE.

ELECTRICITY METER.-

APPLICATION FILED mmao. 19H.

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OTIS WHITE, F SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 SANGAMO ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ELECTRICITY-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 191%.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTIS WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electricity-Meters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. I

My invention relates to electricity meters of the type known as mercury motor meters, such for example asthat shown in Letters Patent No. 910,548, granted to Robert C. Lanphier January 26, 1909. Such meters comprise a suitable casing which contains a mercury chamber in which the usual disk armature rotates, a damping disk connected with the armature so as to rotate in unison therewith, permanent magnets which cooperate with the damping disk, a registering train driven by the armature shaft, and an energizing magnet disposed below the mercury chamber, with its poles in close proximity thereto, for effecting the rotation of the armatur when a current is passed through the meter. The objects of my present invention are to provide improved means for supporting the mercury chamber casing so that it may readily be removed from the front of the meter without taking down the base to which the several parts ar attached or disarranging the other parts of the meter, and also to provide improved means for supporting the upper bearing of the armature shaft so that the operating parts constitute a unitary device which may be removed as an entirety without disarranging any of their adjustments. I accomplish these objectsas illustrated in the accompanying drawings and as hereinafter described. What I regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated my invention as applied to a direct current watthour meter, I

Figure 1 is a front view of the meter, the cover being removed;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the base, the principal operating parts being in elevation, and some of the supporting parts being in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, being a vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the mercury chamber casing supporting bracket and ring-plate;

Fig. 5 is a detail, partly in section, show ing the manner of securing the magnet poles to the supporting bracket; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the magnetsecuring plates.

Referring to the drawings,--

1 indicates the base of the meter, which is preferably made of cast iron, and is of suitable shape to support the parts carried by it. Said base is provided at its upper margin with a lug 5 by which it may be suspended. 6 indicates two bosses formed at opposite sides of the lower portion of the base, one of said bosses being shown in Fig. 2, the other being similar to it and at the opposite side of the base. Said bosses serve as posts or blocks, to which are secured lugs 7-8 provided at the end portions, of a bracket 9, which is cast integral with a ringplate 10, which is secured at the bottom of the usual mercury chamber casing 11 and holds the bottom plate thereof in position, as best shown in Fig. 2. Said ring-plate 10 is removably secured to the bottom of the casing 11 by screws or other suitable means. The bracket 9 is secured to the blocks 6 by screws 12 which are insulated from the lugs 78, as shown at 13 in Fig. 3. The lugs 78 are also insulated from the block 6 by insulating plates 14;, as shown in Fig. 2.

15 indicates the magnet for actuating the armature, which in the construction shown, is a shunt magnet having energizing coils 16. The poles 15 of said magnet extend through the ring-plate 10, terminating close to the bottom of the mercury chamber, and

are held in position by securing plates 10,

' which fit into notches. 15 in the sides of said poles, near their ends, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The securing plates 10 are secured to opposite sides of the ring-plate 10, as illustrated in Fig. 4, fitting in suitable recesses provided to receive them, and are provided with lugs 10 at their side margins, to prevent lateral movement of the magnet poles. The base of the magnet 15 rests against an insulating post 16 to which it is secured by a screw 17. The insulating post 16 is in turn secured to a boss or block 18 cast integral with the lower portion of the base 41:, substantially at the center thereof. By removing the screw 17, the magnet may be disconnected from the post 16*, leaving said post attached to the base. 19 indicates the armature shaft which carries the usual therewith a substantially circular plate 28,

which fits over the upper portion of the easing 11 and is secured thereto by screws or other suitable means. The plate 28 is perforated for the passage of the armature shaft. The upper member 26 of said elliptical frame carries an adjustable screw 29 which is provided with a jewel bearing for the upper pivot 30 of the armature shaft, as shown in Fig. 1, said screw being adjustable. The two members 26-27 of the elliptical frame are secured together at their ends by screws 81-32 so that the upper member 26 may readily be removed when desired, carr ing with it the bearing screw 29. 38 indicates the usual reglstering train frame which is secured to the casing 11 by a bracket 34, preferably in the manner set forth in an application for Letters Patent filed by'Robert C. Lanphier January 8, 1914, Serial No. 810,951.

It is of the greatest importance in many classes of service that the motor element of the meter be removable from in front without taking the meter down from its support, as, for example, in switchboard meters, meters on street railway cars, etc. This it is not possible to do if the screws securing the motor element, or the support which carries it, to the base of the meter are put in from the back, and, so far as I know, prior to my invention no meter has heretofore been produced in which the devices securing the motor element to the base could be removed from the front. In my improved meter, however, as will be apparentfrom the foregoing description by removing the screws 12 and the screw 17, which may readily be done from the front of the meter, and disconnecting the several wire terminals, the operating parts of the meter'may be removed as a unit without disturbing any of their adjustments. In a mercury motor meter accuracy of alinement of the moving system with respect to the bearings and the opening through which the armature shaft leaves the mercury chamber is of the utmost importance, and to obtain this it is very desirable to have the structure which carries the upper bearing of the armature shaft made as nearly as possible integral with the chamber itself, consistent with convenience and simplicity in assembling the parts. The latter consideration makes it impracticable to have the support for the upper bearing for the armature shaft made as a unit with 'the parts that support it on the mercury chamber, for in that case it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to assemble the moving system complete. That is to say, the damping disk could not be properly put in position upon the armature shaft without considerable inconvenience and loss of time. In fact, with a meter having the damping disk mounted as herein shown and described, it would be a physical impossibility to apply the damping disk to the armature shaft if the members 26 and 27 of the elliptical frame were integral with each other, since the armature shaft projects a considerable distance above the center line of the damping disk 20, to permit the damping disk to be properly securedthereon. By making the members of the elliptical frame separable, however, as described and securing the lower member 27 to the cover of the mercury chamber, proper alinement of the upper bearing of the armature shaft is assured, and, moreover, by removing the upper member 26 of the elliptical frame, access is at once had to the upper bearing of the armature shaft and to the damping disk, which may be made removable, preferably in the manner set forth in the said application of Robert O. Lanphier. Thus the several parts of the meter which are more subject to disarrangement and more frequently require attention and replacement, are readily accessible and they may be removed from the base without taking it down or disturbing the line and load connections which are made through suitable terminals 37, 38, 39 and 40 provided in the case 41 at the lower portion of the base, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Further advantages of making the members of the elliptical frame separable are that the parts may more easily be shaped and finished, and besides, for certain types of meters it is desirable to have a higher arch 26 so that gears or other devices may be arranged in the space above the damping disk 20 and below said arch 26. By providing a separable frame the upper arch 26 may be removed and another substituted having a different curvature, to accommodate such other devices. 42 indicates the usual cover, which is fitted upon posts 43, and secured by thumb nuts 44 in the usual way.

While I have shown my improvements as applied to a direct current watthour meter, it will be understood that they may also be applied to various other kinds of meters.

An important advantage of mounting the mercury chamber casing in the manner described upon the ring-plate 10 carried by the bracket 9 is that I avoid applying any supporting strain to the material of which the mercury chamber casing is composed. Heretofore it has been the practice to secure a bracket at one side of said casing for the purpose of supporting it, which necessitated screwing into the material composing the casing and placing a considerable strain upon it, which was objectionable and caused more or less breakage. Furthermore, it has heretofore been the usual practice to have the upper armature shaft bearing supported by the base separately from the operating parts of the meter so that when the mercury chamber and armature shaft were removed the shaft bearing remained with the base, and consequently whenever the mercury chamber casing was removed, the adjustments were apt to be disarranged. These objections to the prior constructions are avoided by the improvements hereinbefore described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. In an electricity meter, the combination of a base, a mercury chamber casing, a ringplate secured to the bottom of said casing, a bracket connected with said ring-plate and adapted to be secured to the base, a magnet cooperating with said mercury chamber and extending through said ring-plate, and an insulating post secured to the base, said magnet being adapted to be secured to said post.

2. In an electricity meter, the combination of a base, a mercury chamber casing, a ringplate secured to the bottom of said casing, a bracket formed integral with said ring-plate and adapted to be secured to the base, a magnet cooperating with said mercury chamber and extending through said ring-plate, and an insulating post secured to the base, said magnet being adapted to be secured to said post.

3. The combination with a mercury-chamber casing and an armature shaft, of a frame composed of upper and lower separable members, the lower member being mounted upon the mercury-chamber casing, a damping disk mounted on the armature shaft be tween the members of said frame, and a bearing carried by the upper member of said frame and adapted to receive the upper pivot of the armature-shaft.

4. In an electricity meter, the combination of a base, a mercury chamber casing, a bracket having a ring-plate secured at the bottom of said casing, a frame mounted on and secured to said mercury chamber casing, said frame being composed of separable upper and lower members, and a bearing for the upper end of said armature shaft, said bearing being carried by the upper member of said frame.

5. The combination with a mercury chamber casing and an armature shaft, of a frame composed of upper and lower separable members, the lower member forming a cover for the mercury chamber, and a bearing carried by the upper member of said frame and adapted to receive the upper pivot of the armature shaft.

6. The combination with a mercury chamber casing and an armature shaft, of a frame composed of upper and lower separable members, the lower member forming a cover for the mercury chamber, a bearing carried by the upper member of said frame and adapted to receive the upper pivot of the armature shaft, a ring-plate at the bottom of said mercury chamber casing, and a bracket connected with said ring-plate.

7. The combination with a mercury chamber casing and an armature shaft, of a frame composed of upper and lower separable members, the lower member forming a cover for the mercury chamber, a bearing carried by the upper member of said frame and adapted to receive the upper pivot of the armature shaft, a ring-plate at the bottom of said mercury chamber casing, a bracket connected with said ring-plate, and a magnet supported by said ring-plate.

8. The combination with a mercury chamber casing and an armature shaft, of a frame secured upon said casing and composed of upper and lower separable members, a bearing carried by the upper member of said frame and adapted to receive the upper pivot of the armature shaft, and a damping disk mounted on the armature shaft between the members of said frame.

9. In an electricity meter, the combination of a base, a mercury-chamber casing, a ringplate secured to the bottom of said casing, a bracket formed integral with said ring-plate and adapted to be secured to the base so as to project laterally therefrom, and an armature shaft bearing carried by said mercury-chamber casing.

10. In an electricity meter, the combination of a base, a bracket projecting therefrom, a mercury-chamber casing supported by said bracket in a substantially horizontal position, an armature shaft projecting through said casing, a frame mounted on said casing and having a bearing for the upper end of said armature-shaft, and a magnet supported by the base beneath said bracket in operative relation to the mercurychamber.

OTIS WHITE.

Witnesses:

,W. B. SOUTHWIOK,

It. C. LANPHIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. (1. 

